“Dude, this is totally not cool,” Shining Armor declared, looking at what his Minister of Foreign Affairs had arranged for the unexpected visit of Queen Chrysalis’ daughter.

“I assure you, sir” a tall, lanky crystal pony gentlecolt with an unusually obsequious intonation to his words immediately responded, “That this is the deepest dungeon we could find, commissioned by Sombra himself to ensure any Balrogs were well taken care of.”

This information gave Shining Armor pause. “Wait, Balrogs?”

“Indeed, sir.”

“As in made of shadows and fire, whips and—”

“Yes sir, the whole shebang as they say, sir. King Sombra was quite fond of requesting their presence and organizing huge, violent gore-fests with them in the dungeons. The Balrogs would party with his majesty for days, while slaves were brought down for entertainment and food.”

Shining Armor’s eyes had widened and he looked around at the dungeon in a completely new light. “Cool!”

“Quite, sir.”

“We need to have them over, have that kid… uh… Sentry. Whatever his first name is, be the messenger. He said something about being fast as a flash or something. We need a totally awesome, tubular experience! We can teach them about friendship and have endless beer!”

“I shall inform recruit Flash Sentry to perform this highly dangerous request, sir. Anything else, sir?”

“Nah! Just… get a room ready upstairs for Princess Acari. I don’t care which one. I think there was a totally rad one right across from mine and Cadance’s. Give her that one. We have a totally rad party to organize!”

“Quite right, sir.”

“It will be gnarly!”

“Exquisitely Gnarly, sir.”

Cadance considered the scroll she was writing down for Twilight to read. With Shining Armor taking care of accommodations for their unexpected visitors. Hopefully he would place them somewhere politely far from their own rooms. After all, she didn’t really look forward to spending time with the daughter of the mare that had touched her Shiny. Repeatedly.

She absently fanned herself before her thoughts went back to the letter. “What to write?”

“Mistress, the chefs have requested a menu for her royal majesty and the Hero Twilight Sparkle’s visit.”

Cadance blinked and looked deep into her secretary’s eyes, trying to ignore the fact that she was made of crystal. It wouldn’t do for her subjects to realize their Empress was deathly afraid of the material they were made of, after all.

Quartz Quill, however, felt suddenly self-conscious. Her Royal Empress Cadance always looked deep into her eyes, with such... intensity… she felt herself blush. Could her Magnificence like her? What was going on behind those purple irises when she stared so deeply into her soul? Was she thinking of inviting her to join their majesties in depraved—

“Fruit Bats.”

Quartz Quill blinked. “I—what?”

“Fruit Bats,” Cadance repeated, unrelenting in holding Quill’s eyes in place with the intensity of her gaze. “Changelings love eating Fruit Bats. Delicious, juicy Fruit Bats.”

Quartz Quill drew a shuddering breath, feeling herself blush under the spell of Cadance’s irises. She leaned forward, just a bit. “J-juicy… a-and delicious.” She gulped.

“Fruit Bats, yes.” Cadance nodded.

Quartz Quill’s lips felt dry as she leaned forward a bit more until all she could see were the purple gems of iridescent beauty that belonged to her Mistress and Empress. “It shall be done,” she whispered. Then, a fleeting thought crossed her mind. “Oh, deer.”

This had the unfortunate effect of breaking eye contact.

“What? Oh dear what?”

Clearing her throat, Quartz Quill took a regretful step back. “Not ‘Oh dear’, your Supreme Highness; Deer. The Deerfolk delegation are scheduled for arrival in the next few days to honor the peace agreement forged with them after the destruction of Sombra.”

“Of course!” Cadance sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “How could I forget? Isn’t the date of their arrival symbolic, too? Something to do with…”

“Their greatest battle and victory against their hated enemies, the Balrogs, yes,” Quartz Quill nodded. “Their days-long procession through their haunted woods, lead by their ancient leader Cúthalion Autumleaves symbolizes the gladness that they have for our kingdom to be freed from the alliance of King Sombra and Lord Bloodborn Aleguzzler of the Balrogs. It is a gesture indicating that the wait was worth the reward.”

“I can see that,” Cadance sighed. “Well, at least Twilight will be here, and I hear Princess Acari is a scholar herself. I am sure that they will both be fascinated by talking to another being as ancient as Celestia.”

Suddenly, Quartz Quill was once more held in place by the amazingly focused look Her Sublime Joy, Empress Cadance gave her. “Meep?”

“Quartz, have the chefs research the proper procedure to cook Fruit Bats, and make sure that they absolutely understand Deerfolk cousine. I know Lord Cúthalion will have brought his own experts, but if we can impress them with something simple, yet significant, we will have made the right move.”

“A-at once my beloved!”

Cadance blinked. “What?”

“M-my B-beloved Empress! Queen of Hearts and Light of the Crystal Heart!”

Cadance sighed. “How many times do I have to ask you to stop adding titles?”

“J-just one more time, y-your Crystalline Magnificience, a-as always!”

Cadance watched the crystal pony scamper out of her offices.

"Sir, the Balrogs have accepted the invitation and declared your sacrificial offering suitable, they will be arriving sometime during the week."

"Wow. That Sentry dude was fast! I didn’t expect them to answer so soon! He left what, an hour ago?”

“Indeed, sir. But the Balrogs have magical fires that immediately transport unprepared interlopers straight into their torture cham—”

“Whoa, hold on, bro. Offering? Did you have Flash Sentry carry something over to them?"

"...not quite, sir."

Shining's eyes locked on him.

"They did say they would bring several wagons full of beer, sir."

"Ace!"

Author's Notes:

You might have noticed I started using some images to indicate where the action is taking place. It should make it easier to recognize which thread of the story we're currently at.